When Sorrelpaw heard thunder, her paws began tingling, as though fire ants found their way to her paw.

She felt uncomfortable and moved slightly closer to the group of apprentices.

The gathering place suddenly became darker. The crowd of cats began murmuring rather anxiously.

"The Gathering is over!" Flailstar yowled.

Out of the blue, a strange voice spoke. "I don't think you should leave so soon."

There was an uproar. The Clan cats looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the voice.

Sorrelpaw felt some cat nudging her and was surprised to see her mother, Sagewish, signaling for Sorrelpaw to follow her.

Sorrelpaw followed Sagewish, her mind filled with questions, but she remained silent.

"I want to talk to you," Sagewish explained in a hushed voice, "and lead you away from the rogues."

"Rogues?" Sorrelpaw questioned.

"They surrounded us. We outnumber them but... we don't know if there are any more rogues. It could be a trap," her mother mewed.

While the leaders continued talking to the unknown cat, Sorrelpaw settled down, trying to get comfortable.

"Have you noticed anything... off about your mentor?" Sagewish asked, her eyes fixed on her kit.

"Icefang?" Sorrelpaw mewed. Why is Sagewish asking about my mentor?

"Yes," the light brown tabby she-cat mewed seriously. "You see, your father noticed Icefang's strange change of behaviour when they were patrolling last night."

Sorrelpaw knew that Shadowstep was a very observant warrior. He could spot a mouse in the darkness even if there was little light.

"Icefang has not been behaving strangely," Sorrelpaw meowed honestly.

Sagewish sighed. "I need a favour from you, my kit. It may be dangerous, but I know that you, an apprentice, can handle it. Could you keep an eye on your mentor?"

When Sorrelpaw thought of it, she felt guilty. "But he didn't do anything wrong," she mewed. "He's also our Clanmate. He couldn't be plotting anything, right?"

"You can never be sure," Sagewish whispered. "Icefang never had a happy past and he is able to keep his emotions in check. Flailstar may trust him, but I don't trust him completely. I can understand if it's too much responsibility for you-"

"Okay, I'll do it," Sorrelpaw decided.

Sagewish breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

Her mother disappeared into the crowd, leaving Sorrelpaw there. She headed back to the gathered apprentices and found them discussing about something.

"What are you all talking about?" Sorrelpaw asked.

Shadowpaw, a SunClan apprentice, heard her. He nudged Kinkpaw to catch his attention.

"Oh hi, Sorrelpaw!" Kinkpaw mewed. "We were just talking about battling."

"Why?" she mewed.

"The rogues had challenged the Clans to a battle," the SunClan apprentice's eyes shone with excitement. "I can't wait to fight for my Clan!"

"Are they mouse-brained?" Sorrelpaw glancing at the top of the branch, where the leaders were talking to a rogue with a mud coated pelt.

Birdstar was narrowing her eyes at the rogue while the other leaders were threatening him.

The rogue spoke calmly and confidently, unafraid. Sorrelpaw saw him smirk at the leaders before jumping off the branch and leaving with the other rogues.

Sorrelpaw waited expectantly for the leaders to explain but they simply gathered their cats and left.

Why didn't the leaders tell us anything? Sorrelpaw wondered as she was herded back to her Clan.

Troutpaw padded up to her and gestured that she wanted to speak with the BrambleClan apprentice alone.

Sorrelpaw snuck away from her Clan and looked at Troutpaw in confusion. "I need to get back to my Clan," she mewed to the WaveClan apprentice.

"I know," Troutpaw replied, glancing at the dispersing Clans. "I'll make it quick. Let's meet at here tomorrow night. There are things that some of us want to discuss about."

"Oh... okay," Sorrelpaw sounded hesitant. It's not against the warrior code, right?

Troutpaw thanked her for the time and rushed off to return to her Clan.

I should go too, Sorrelpaw thought, running off.

BrambleClan's territory was not so far from the Oaks, so Sorrelpaw was able to get back quickly. She only hoped that no cat saw her leave.

"Sorrelpaw?" she froze when her mentor spoke. "There you are. I was looking for you. Where did you go?"

Icefang was looking at her, waiting for an answer. Sorrelpaw felt uncomfortable at his searching gaze.

"I was just talking to an apprentice from another Clan," she replied.

"Thanks for being honest with me," Icefang mewed, walking away. "You should get some sleep. We are doing battle training tomorrow."

"Okay," Sorrelpaw was relieved that he didn't ask anymore questions. As the young apprentice entered the apprentice den, she couldn't help but think whether Sagewish's suspicions were true.